The Times of Our Savior Compared With the Present—Revelation—Duties of the Saints—Self to Be Overcome—Coming of Christ

[The 11th chapter of Hebrews was read as a text.]
A more comprehensive chapter than this, in its description of the
effects of faith when properly exer-cised by the children of men, I
think is not contained within the lids of the Bible. The entire
history of
God's dealings with the children of men, so far as
the Jewish record is concerned, is epitomized therein. The Apostle, in
the plainest possible language, describes the leading events that had
transpired up to his day among the fathers of his nation, setting
forth with unmistakable clearness the power that they wielded through
faith in God, in accomplishing the work that was assigned unto them;
and he tells the Hebrews, in writing to them upon this subject, that
it is impossible to please God without faith, for those who come unto
him must believe that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.

I expect that the Apostle Paul had a generation to deal with that were
not dissimilar to the generation in which we live—a generation who had
in their midst the Scriptures, the predictions of the holy Prophets,
ministers who professed to have received the authority which they
exercised in ministering to the people from a high source, and who
were, in their own opinion at least, called of God, an elect people, a
chosen generation, who rejoiced in the power that had been made
manifest to and in behalf of their fathers, and which, to a certain
extent, they had received. The Apostle, in this chapter, pointed out
the power which their fathers exercised through faith, and to the
mighty works that had been wrought thereby, and he endeavored to stir
up within them a desire to exercise the same faith.

At the time that Paul wrote this epistle to the Hebrews, the Jews did
not believe in living revelation; they did not believe that God spoke
to his people by any manifestations such as their fathers had
received. We are told that they garnished the sepulchres of the dead
Prophets, that they reverenced the places of their birth, honored
their memories, and declared that if they had lived in the days of
their fathers they would not have been guilty of putting the Prophets
to death. But the Son of God and his Apostles were treated by them
precisely as their fathers had treated the Prophets of old.

It is a good thing for us who live in this generation that we have
this record in our midst. It is an encouraging thing to read the
history of the past, and to learn about the treatment that men of God
received in ancient days. It is encouraging for those who contend for
the same faith to know that slander, persecution, ignominy and shame,
and even death itself are not evidences of the falsity of a system, or
of the falsity of the doctrines taught by any individual, because we
have the history of the Apostles—some of the best men that have ever
trod the earth, and of Jesus, the holiest and best man that ever trod
the earth, or that ever will, and we find that he and they were
persecuted, hated and despised, and their names were cast out as evil,
and they were slain by a generation who professed to honor God and be
very righteous, and who claimed to be the descendants of the
Patriarchs of old, who were called the friends of God. If this story
were told to us without our knowing anything of the circumstances, we
should be reluctant to believe it. It would be a difficult thing to
persuade us that human beings could have been so base and degraded,
and so lost to every feeling of humanity as to persecute and crucify a
pure being like Jesus, who had come from the Father for the express
purpose of laying down his life as an expiation for their sins. But
the record is before us. We have been familiar with it from our
infancy, and in the minds of those who profess to have
any faith in God, there is no room to doubt it. It is most fortunate for
us that this record has been preserved, for by it we are enabled to
understand what kind of a generation lived in the day in which the
chapter I have read in your hearing was written. They were a people
who spoke highly of religion, who built synagogues and places of
worship, who honored the Sabbath day, who wore long phylacteries, on
which were written select passages from Scripture, who had the word of
God written on their very doorposts, who prayed at the corners of the
streets, who fasted, and, apparently, sought in every way to glorify
God. They believed in Abraham and Moses, and in the covenants which
God made with them. They believed and practiced the law which Moses
had revealed unto them, and so strict were they in observing many of
its principles, that they were ready on one occasion to have a woman
slain for the violation of the commandment respecting adultery; and at
another time their wrath was kindled against the disciples because
they plucked some ears of corn on the Sabbath day to appease their
hunger. They considered that act a violation of the Sabbath, and their
righteous souls were shocked thereat. They were shocked even at the
idea of Jesus eating with unwashed hands, and at him, who professed to
be a teacher, associating with publicans and sinners. They thought it
was beneath the dignity of a man of God to condescend to associate
with the low and degraded. This was the kind of people that existed
when Paul wrote this chapter, yet with all their professions and with
all their apparent sanctity they were utterly destitute of the
knowledge and power of God. They drew near to God with their lips, but
their hearts were far from him. They made a great parade of their
religion, but they dwelt on the glories of the past, on the evidences
of God's favor which their nation and religion had formerly received.
But did they themselves possess the spirit of prophecy, and the faith
which Paul describes? If they had they would have recognized Jesus
when he came amongst them, and they would have gladly received him
and his teachings, and would have obeyed and practiced in their lives
the principles of his Gospel. But as I have said, they were utterly
destitute of the Spirit of God, they were darkened in their minds, and
instead of receiving Jesus and his teachings, they hounded him until
they got him into their power and then they slew him, and they treated
his Apostles in the same manner.

It is truly said that history repeats itself. We are familiar with
this in the history of our race. When the Prophets who preceded Jesus
went into the midst of the people and preached unto them the word of
God, they found them believing in the Prophets who had gone before.
They were willing to receive the testimony of Moses, and of some who
succeeded him. Samuel, after his death, was recognized as a great
Prophet by the Jews, and so were some others who were dead; but while
they lived they were treated much the same as Jesus and his Apostles
were treated. The wicked could not recognize the character of the men
of God who labored among them, and they rejected and persecuted them,
and slew many of them. This is characteristic of the human family. One
of the most unreliable things connected with mankind is popular
opinion. So far as God's dealings with the children of men are
concerned, and the sending of Prophets and Apostles to them, those who
have been guided by popular opinion have always erred. The
opinions of the great majority concerning the truth have in almost
every instance been unreliable. Moses, notwithstanding the mighty
miracles he performed, was not appreciated by those among whom he
lived, and narrowly escaped being stoned by the people whom he led
across the Red Sea. When they got into the wilderness they murmured at
him, and were ready to choose others to lead them back to Egypt. It
was so with Samuel. Although the nation was comparatively a righteous
nation, they rejected him. They were not content with the power and
authority which he exercised over them, and they wanted a king. So
with other Prophets. The more wicked the generation, the harder they
were to convince of the truth of the predictions that were uttered
among them by the servants of God; and so much was this the case, that
it became almost an infallible rule, when a majority of the people
decided against a man, he was sure to be a servant of God.

It may be asked, why has this been the case? I know that men say, If
God be God, and is the being that he is described to be, why has he
not manifested his power in the midst of his children to such an
extent that they are compelled to receive the testimony of his
servants? There is a class of people who cannot understand why it is
that truth cannot be made so plain to the human understanding that
men cannot reject it. Infidels advance this as an evidence that there
is no such thing as divine power, no such being as God, and that there
is no Supreme Providence presiding over the affairs of the children of
men. They say that if God be the kind of being that he is described to
be in the Scriptures, it would be inconsistent with his character to
withhold from the children of men such manifestations of power as
would convince them beyond all controversy that the men he sends to
declare his will unto them are his divinely appointed servants.

It is very plausible, taking one view of the subject, for men to
imagine that this ought to be the way in which God should act; but
there is one saying, written in ancient days, that is as true today
as when it was written, that is, “That as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and God's thoughts
higher than our thoughts.” In our degradation and ignorance we cannot
comprehend the purposes and plans of our heavenly Father. No man can
do this. If any man were capable of doing this, he would be unfit to
dwell on earth, and he might perhaps be translated, as Enoch was
anciently. No man can rise to the wisdom of Deity, and comprehend the
purposes and designs of him who created the earth and placed us upon
it, and who regulates the movements of the universe of which we form a
part; and when we try to do it, it is like a child just beginning to
talk, seeking to dictate and comprehend the movements, actions and
thoughts of men who are in possession of the wisdom and experience of
mature age. In fact the difference is greater. Our Father and God has
made it plain to us that he has placed us here on this earth in order
that we may be tested and proved in the exercise of the agency that he
has given us; and if, when he sends forth his Prophets, he were to
manifest his power, so that all the earth would be compelled to
receive their words, there would be no room then for men to exercise
their agency, for they would be compelled to adopt
a certain
course, and to receive certain teachings and doctrines regardless of
their own wishes and will. But God has sent us here, and has given to
every one of us our agency, as much so as he has his. I, in my sphere,
have my agency, as much as God, my Eternal Father, or as Jesus, my
elder brother, has in his. I can do right or I can do wrong; I can
serve God or reject him; I can keep his commandments or violate them;
I can receive his Spirit or reject it. This agency God has given unto
man, and hence it is that when he sends his truth, and his servants to
declare it unto the people, he does it in such a way that man is left
to the free exercise of his agency in receiving or rejecting them; at
the same time we are assured that whoever receives that truth will
also receive the convincing power of the Spirit of God to bear
testimony to him that it is divine; and this is the reason why, as the
Apostle says in the chapter I read to you, the ancient Saints, though
they were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword; though
they wandered about in sheepskins and in goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted and tormented, were able to endure to the end. They had
received a testimony from God through obedience to his Gospel in the
exercise of their agency in the right direction, and this enabled them
to endure all these things cheerfully, looking forward, as Paul says
Moses did when he fled from Egypt, to the recompense of reward.

In this manner the servants of God have gone forth in every age and
preached the Gospel. To bring the matter down to our own day—when
Joseph Smith commenced to preach the Gospel, to tell the people that
God had once more spoken from the heavens, a great many said, “Where
are the signs, or evidences that God has done this? Can you not show
some sign or work us some miracle that shall convince us that this is
true? If you will work us a miracle, if you will walk on the water,
raise the dead, or do some other miraculous work, then we will believe
that he has spoken to you, and that the words you testify to are
true.” They wanted signs, and yet they had the Bible in their midst.
The position of those to whom Joseph taught the Gospel was very
similar to that of the Jews in Paul's day, only the former were more
blessed than the Jews were unto whom Jesus came. They had the Prophets
and Apostles, that is, they had their words. They had the record of
the Gospel as taught by Jesus and his Apostles, with the account of
the miracles wrought by them; they had a form of godliness, and they
thought they were on the road of salvation. But they did not believe
in miracles, they did not believe that God was a God of revelation,
hence they would not receive the testimony of the Prophet Joseph, but
they wanted miracles to convince them. In this they made a great
mistake, as many others have done in other ages of the world in
relation to this matter. It is written of Jesus that he did not do
many mighty works in Galilee because of the unbelief of the people;
and he said it was a wicked and adulterous generation that demanded a
sign, and none should be given them. When the people demanded
miraculous signs of Joseph Smith to convince them of the truth of his
testimony, they would not, or did not exercise their agency, but
wanted some overpowering evidence to convince them.

The Lord does not operate in that way among the children of men. He
sends forth his servants with the truth, and he makes this promise—he
made it through Joseph Smith—
If they will believe in Jesus
Christ, repent of their sins, be baptized for the remission thereof by
one having authority, they shall receive the Holy Ghost and a
testimony from Him as to the character of the work in which they have
engaged. A man who comes to God must believe that he is God, that he
has power to do as he says. This is the way the ancients received
their faith. The difficulty today is, that the people do not believe
that God is a being of this character. You talk to those men who
profess to be ministers of the Gospel, and ask them, “Do you have the
gifts, powers and blessings of the Gospel as they were enjoyed by the
Saints in ancient days?” and the reply will be, invariably, “That
power is withdrawn, those gifts and blessings are no longer enjoyed
among men. God does not reveal his will unto the children of men as he
did in ancient days, and it is in vain for you to ask God for those
blessings, for they will not be bestowed.” This is the teaching of the
ministers in the religious world today. Is it any wonder that there
is no faith among men? Is it any wonder that the blessings which Paul
describes as being the fruits of faith are not realized today? Is it
any wonder that men wander in darkness and error, and that the heavens
are as brass over their heads? Is it any wonder that angels do not
come to earth and visit men, and that the gifts and blessings of the
Gospel are not enjoyed? It is no wonder to me; on the contrary, the
wonder to me is that there is so much faith, or rather that there is
any faith left among the children of men, and to tell the truth, my
brethren and sisters, there is but very little. I can see a great
change since I became old enough to comprehend anything about
religion. I can see an absence of that faith which reli-gious people
once had. There has been a gradual lapsing into unbelief, and
infidelity and skepticism are growing among the people, and today
there is very little of that old fashioned vital religion that was
enjoyed previous to the revelation of the Gospel.

Among the earliest of the predictions of the Elders of this Church
that I can remember, were those foretelling, as effects which should
follow the declaration of the Gospel in these days, those we now see.
They declared that when this Gospel was proclaimed unto the people, if
they rejected it, the faith which they then enjoyed and the light they
then possessed would disappear, and they would be left in darkness. I
have lived to see the fulfillment of this prediction. The Apostle
Paul, in his epistle to the Thessalonians, says, “For this cause God
will send them strong delusions, that they may believe a lie who take
not pleasure in righteousness,” &c. “For this cause”—because they
rejected the truth and the testimony of God's servants, strong
delusion would be sent unto them, which would cause them to believe a
lie. I have lived to see the fulfillment of that prediction. The first
time I heard of modern revelation outside of this Church, I was on the
Sandwich Islands. I had been from home then several years. I happened
to call at the house of a friend and picked up a book. I read its
preface; and I was astonished at it. I had never heard of anything of
the kind outside of our Church before then. The author argued that it
was right to expect that spirits would visit and make communications
to men, and he went on to quote from the Bible in support of his
argument. I have since seen many books of the same character,
and it is now as common to believe in spiritual revelation as it was
formerly uncommon. It is as rare a thing now to meet with persons who
do not believe in this in some form as it was formerly to meet with
those who did believe it. Up to the time of my early manhood I had
never heard of anybody believing in this but Latter-day Saints. Now
you will find ministers of religion—Methodists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and men of all classes and degrees who believe in
spiritual communications. But have they any organization, or any point
upon which they can unite together? No, each man receives revelation
to suit himself, until today there is no faith in the land and no
belief in the manifestations of the power of God. The adversary has
captivated the hearts of the children of men, he has fortified their
minds against the truth, and is leading them to destruction.

Formerly, the great objection to the Latter-day Saints was that they
believed in revelation. That was one of the great charges made against
us in Jackson County, Mo. Another was, that we had a Prophet, whose
words we hearkened to, and that we believed in the working of
miracles. These were among the charges made against us by the mob as a
reason why we should be expelled from our lands. But after a few years
had elapsed, our cunning adversary began to give revelations and
manifestations to the people, and he spread abroad his lying signs and
wonders, and now they are far more numerous than those contained in
the Bible. People everywhere can get revelation. Profane men and
women—drunkards, gamblers and wicked people of every decree can get
round a table and obtain revelation. What necessity is there for them
to obey the Gospel? What attractions has truth for such persons? They
can get all the revelation they need without having recourse to the
Gospel or to its ordinances, or without being under the necessity of
enduring the ignominy of being the servants of God, for it has always
been considered ignominious by the world to be a servant of God since
Satan had power in the earth. Can you not see how cunningly the
adversary has worked, and how difficult it is under such circumstances
to snatch people from the error of their ways? The truth has not been
sweet or desirable to this generation, and they have rejected it. The
truth has no attractions for those who do not love it for its own
sake. Connected with the truth there is a love such as Jesus said his
followers should have, which should induce them to cleave to it when
they were persecuted, their names cast out as evil, and when they
should be hated of all men for his sake. There is nothing attractive
about all this to people who do not love the truth for its own sake,
but they who do are willing to endure all things for the sake of the
blessings that God has promised to bestow upon them.

Brethren and sisters, it is our duty as individuals and as a people to
live so that we may have that faith that was once delivered to the
Saints; that we may have the revelations of God in our hearts, that we
may know for ourselves concerning the truth, and have each day a
testimony thereof. You know that the idea is very prevalent that we
are led by one man, or by a few men. It is thought that President
Young leads this people according to his own ideas, and that he and
his counselors and the Twelve, through some cunning craft of theirs,
are able to
influence them to do this or reject that, to
pursue this course or avoid that. I suppose this idea will be
prevalent as long as there are people who do not understand the
character of this work. But it is our duty, one and all, to live so
that we shall have the light of the Holy Spirit and a continual
testimony within us of the truth of the work that God has established,
and that we may have that faith that will enable us to endure all
things. If women had their dead restored in ancient days, women ought
to have faith enough in these days to realize the same blessings. But
a spirit of unbelief, darkness and hardness of heart has gone forth,
and it is shared to some extent by this people. The more we mingle
with the world the more of this spirit we feel. It permeates the
literature of the present day. You cannot take up a book that has not
been written by a servant of God, that does not bear evidence of this
spirit of unbelief. You cannot take up a newspaper, but something is
said therein to weaken the faith of those who have any. Unbelief
permeates the world at large. There are good reasons for this. The
great mass of the people ridicule Jesus, the resurrection and life
beyond the grave. They cannot understand why men should deny
themselves and suffer as Jesus and his disciples did. The people of
today cannot comprehend anything but living for today, enjoying
themselves and having pleasure today, and letting tomorrow take care
of itself. The idea of laying up treasures in heaven is ridiculed,
even by some who call themselves Latter-day Saints. I have heard, and
perhaps you have, some amongst us say, “I am satisfied with getting
the best I can here, and with enjoying myself to the best advantage
here, and let the fu-ture take care of itself. I do not know anything
about the life to come, but I know about this, and I want my enjoyment
here, and I will risk the future.”

The whole tendency of the Gospel of Jesus is to the effect that we
must deny ourselves, and be willing to endure and suffer even to death
itself. It is right that we should dress comfortably and according to
our means; it is right that we should take care of our bodies and have
suitable food. God has given us the elements of food and raiment and
to build good houses. He has given us horses and cattle, and the
materials to make carriages, and it is right that we should use these
things. I do not believe in any religion that denies to man the use of
the blessings which God has given, but I deny that God designs that we
should abuse or worship these things. If you or I have wealth, we
should not worship it. If you have comforts, your heart should not be
set upon them. If you have pleasant homes, orchards, gardens and
fields you should not worship them, but hold them as the gifts of God,
and be as ready to go forth and leave them as you would to leave a
barren wilderness, or as these Indians are to take up their wick-i-ups
and go from place to place. As Latter-day Saints we should be ready
and willing to move in any direction and to do anything that our
Father and God requires of us, holding the religion that he has given
us dearer than life itself. Our brethren and sisters who lived
anciently aimed for the same glory that we are aiming for, and they
were willing to be sawn asunder, to be stoned, to dress in sheepskins
and goatskins, to dwell in dens and caves of the earth, to have their
names cast out as evil, and to do all things for the righteousness of
God. We are aiming for the same
glory they have received, and
if we attain to it we must be willing to endure all the afflictions
and to make all the sacrifices they endured and made.

There is this difference between us and the work in which we are
engaged, and them and the work in their day—they looked forward to the
time when the kingdom of God would be withdrawn from the earth on
account of the growth of unbelief and apostasy, but in our day God has
promised that this kingdom shall stand forever. On that account we
can rejoice. We know that our enemies' attacks upon us will fail. They
may drive us, at least they have done it, but I do not think they will
again if we are faithful. They have driven and persecuted us; they
have slain some of our numbers, they have cast out our names as evil;
they have called us everything vile, as they did Jesus. We are of all
men the most despised, so far as our characters are concerned; and yet
we are known better than any other people. The adversary has spread
this mist of darkness over the minds of the people until they think us
capable of everything evil. But notwithstanding all this, the course
of this work is onward and upward, and it will prevail. Men may
combine and form plots and schemes against it, and do everything in
their power to overthrow it, but they will be signally defeated every
time in the future, as they have been in the past. There has never
been a move against this Church, from its organization until the
present time, that did not benefit it. There never has been a hostile
hand stretched forth that did not add to the speed and strength of its
progress. There never has been a drop of the blood of its members shed
by the ungodly that has not contributed to the increase of our
numbers, and that has not added to the strength of the system with
which we are connected. Let your minds go back and contemplate the history
of this Church, trace the course of this people from the inception of
God's work to the present time, and what has there been done against
it or them that has not added to its strength and to the certainty of
its perpetuity? Think of all the schemes concocted, and of all the
smart men that have been engaged in fighting this work; think of all
the talented men in the Church who have apostatized and have preached
against the Gospel, and have written books and newspaper articles, and
everything else to destroy this work. Think of it, and then think how
this people have gone forth increasing in strength, numbers and
everything that is calculated to make them great and mighty. God has
preserved us. He has given us the supremacy of the land and to Him the
glory is to be ascribed for the supremacy we still maintain. It is not
because our enemies would have it so. They have fought us step by
step; they have devised mischief and evil in various ways against us,
but God, through His providences, has overruled all for our good, and
to Him, not to man, be the glory therefor. Man is utterly incapable of
accomplishing these results. There were men in ancient days as brave,
fearless, honest and mighty as any who have been connected with this
work, but they sank beneath the blows of their destroyers, and went
down to death. Satan and his emissaries overcame them. But God has now
set to his hand for the last time to build up his kingdom and to send
his Gospel to the people, and he has declared that when that time
arrived his work should never again be overcome.

Any man who will look at the con-dition of the people will say
that if there ever was a time in the history of the world when God
should speak to man it is now. The people everywhere are gone astray.
Men and women are filled with extravagance and foolish notions, and
they are corrupt in every sense of the word. The churches are
corrupted, the people are divided, and the humble man who desires to
serve God is laughed at, ridiculed and crowded to the wall, while the
man who is bold in iniquity, and shrewd in taking advantage of his
fellows, lords it over them. Honesty is far below par, and the
virtuous are the butt and ridicule of the wicked. Mingle among men of
the world and talk to them about virtue, and they will laugh at you,
and if a man is known to be chaste and pure in his thoughts and
actions he is ridiculed and sneered at. It is so with everything else
that God values. Think of it. Where do you see meek and humble men
prospered? You see bold, defiant men—those shrewd in iniquity, get all
the advantages, and the man who can take advantage of his neighbor
best flourishes most. Is this right? No. I should mourn for the race
if I thought so, I should mourn if I thought that this condition of
things would forever prevail. God promised in ancient days that in the
latter days he would reveal the truth, send forth his servants and
gather out his people. He has commenced the work. By the preaching of
his word, he has gathered thousands of honest-hearted people who love
the truth and who are willing to abide by it. He has given unto them
the same spirit that he gave to his servants in ancient days. He has
given them the same faith, but they do not always exercise it as they
should do, they are overcome of evil; and there are some who call
themselves Latter-day Saints who have almost got to believe that there
is nothing particularly special in this work, God has not shown
himself as they expected. Such persons will sooner or later leave the
Church if they do not repent.

There is this about unbelief, brethren and sisters, it is one of the
most dreadful feelings, I think, that can assail any human being. I
have seen men in this condition, and I have thought while beholding
them, that I got a better conception of hell than I ever did from any
other exhibition. How, you may ask, shall we guard against this spirit
of unbelief? I will tell you. There are some people who, when assailed
by doubt, will commence a controversy with the devil, they will argue
with him, and give room to him. You should never condescend to any
such thing. Just tell him you have nothing to do with him, bid him to
get behind you, you have set out to serve God and to keep his
commandments, and you are going to do it regardless of him or any of
his temptations or snares. Be firm and steadfast, and close your ears
against evil influences and everything of that kind. I will tell you a
rule by which you may know the Spirit of God from the spirit of evil.
The Spirit of God always produces joy and satisfaction of mind. When
you have that Spirit you are happy; when you have another spirit you
are not happy. The spirit of doubt is the spirit of the evil one; it
produces uneasiness and other feelings that interfere with happiness
and peace.

It is your privilege, and it ought to be your rule, my brethren and
sisters, to always have peace and joy in your hearts. When you wake in
the morning and your spirits are disturbed, you may know there is some
spirit or influence that is not right. You should never leave your bed
chambers until you can get that calm, serene and happy
influence that flows from the presence of the Spirit of God, and that
is the fruit of that Spirit. So during the day you are apt to get
disturbed, angry and irritated about something. You should stop, and
not allow that influence to prevail or have place in your heart.
“Why,” says one, “not be angry?” No, not be angry, unless righteously
so at some great wrong that ought to be reproved. That is not the
anger of which I speak. Some people will get angry with their wives,
husband, children or friends, and will justify themselves and think
they are perfectly right because they have some spirit which prompts
them to say harsh things. I have known people give themselves great
credit for their frankness and candor for speaking angrily and
improperly. “Why,” said they, “it is better to ‘spit’ it out than to
keep it in.” I think it is far better to keep it in than to let it
out. If you do not speak it, nobody knows how you feel, and certainly
the adversary does not get the advantage over you. You do not make a
wound.

We of all people should be happy and joyful. When the clouds seem the
darkest and most threatening, and as though the storm is ready to
burst upon us with all its fury, we should be calm, serene and
undisturbed, for if we have the faith we profess to have we know that
God is in the storm; in the cloud or in the threatened danger, and
that he will not let it come upon us only as far as is necessary for
our good and for our salvation, and we should, even then, be calm and
rejoice before God and praise him. Yes, if led like the three Hebrew
children, to the fiery furnace to be cast therein, or as Dan-iel was,
into the lions' den, even then we should preserve our equanimity and
our trustfulness in God. I know that some will say, “This is folly and
enthusiasm,” but notwithstanding this idea I know that there is a
power in the religion of Jesus Christ to sustain men even under these
circumstances and they can rejoice in them. Yes, if we had to take our
flight into these canyons and mountains to hide from our enemies who
were hunting us in the deserts and wilds of this great interior
country, we should be as happy then if we loved our religion as we are
today. I know that when the Saints crossed these plains in
destitution, driven by their enemies from their pleasant places,
burying their dead by the wayside, I know that God bestowed peace upon
them, and that they rejoiced to as great an extent as they have at any
time since.

Brethren and sisters, seek for the faith once delivered to the Saints.
I know that faith will grow in you, and it should grow in you and you
should instill it into your children, that it may be a fixed principle
with them, that we whom God has called from the nations of the earth
may be the nucleus of a faith that shall be disseminated until there
shall be found amongst us the faith once given to the Saints, and
until a race shall spring from us who, like the mighty of ancient
days, shall, through faith stop the mouths of lions, put to flight the
armies of the aliens, quench the violence of fire and raise their dead
to life; until the darkness that enshrouded us and our fathers shall
be known no more, and we be prepared for an eternal residence in his
presence. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.